MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Mean Green volleyball team avenged its loss to Florida Atlantic one week ago with a four-set victory over the Owls in the first round of the Conference USA volleyball championship, propelling NT into the quarterfinals and a date with Marshall.

"I spoke to the girls and essentially let them know how I felt about the past weekend, and how I feel about our team going forward,” head coach Andrew Palileo said. “I wanted them to understand that every team has ups and downs, and we have a chance to redeem ourselves on a big stage in the Conference USA tournament. They delivered today, and we will rest up and prepare for Marshall.”

In a vastly improved performance over its last meeting with the Owls, North Texas controlled the tempo and flow of the match with relative ease.

"We didn’t get outhustled too much tonight and that was one of our goals, especially against Florida Atlantic, who plays on energy and thrives on energy and big plays," Palileo continued. "We didn’t let them get too much of that tonight."

Outside of a Florida Atlantic-dominated second set, NT read the Owl attack off the set effectively. Senior captain Courtney Windham spearheaded the defense at the net with a team-high five blocks.

Freshman Amy Henard, who was named to the C-USA All-Freshman squad, tossed up 51 assists and spread the ball well as five North Texas players tallied double-digit kills. All-C-USA second team selection Karissa Flack led the offensive charge with a team-high 14 kills.

"We were not going to let them come back and think they could beat us a second time," Flack said. "It was going to be hard to beat us a second time."

All-C-USA first team selection Carnae Dillard posted her 25th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 18 digs.

Up Next:

North Texas will play its next match in the quarterfinal round of the C-USA tournament against Marshall, which begins at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. All matches are live streamed on the C-USA Digital Network.